Mystery of Rubens painting: basically a precursor to Photoshop

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The Mantuan woman portrayed by Rubens (an x-ray except for the head): her splendor no longer seemed appropriate, her smile remained.

Photo: Private

None other than the Flemish baroque star Peter Paul Rubens has conjured up the woman's face on a canvas: an attractive appearance with flushed cheeks, red lips, a hint of a smile and artfully coiffed hair.

But some things don't fit into the radiant picture at all: the black bows under the ears, for example, but above all this inelegant ruff and the somewhat veiled cape above it.

More than 400 years old, the work poses aesthetic puzzles, and although it was created by one of history's most legendary painters, it has been little explored.

It's not even particularly well known so far - and could now lead to a major discussion among art experts: from Thursday onwards it will be presented in an exhibition in Genoa, including new findings.

What is certain is that the person portrayed was changed to a certain extent after the picture was completed.

Here's how new x-rays show it: someone painted over her original outfit, and that first choice was very much a

.

Her neck was originally adorned with an almost wagon-wheel-sized yet highly elegant collar with a border of the finest lace, and her hair was decorated with gemstones.

She had also put on earrings and a thick gold chain with a large pendant.

Some time ago, when a restorer removed some overpainting after the X-ray with the owner's permission, the precious lace of the border appeared underneath - and the question of whether more of the first version should be uncovered.

The passage has been painted over again, but the lure of an even purer Rubens may remain.

“The image as it is now has a long history.

And that has to be respected.«

Art historian Nils Büttner

The work has been in German private ownership since a Munich auction last June.

The buyer would like to remain anonymous, but the art historian Nils Büttner is willing to speak up. He now knows the portrait well, having loaned it to a Rubens exhibition for which he was responsible at the turn of the year last year.

It was called »Becoming Famous« and took place in Stuttgart.

He is also involved in the new show in Genoa.

Büttner teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart and is President of the Rubenianum research center in Antwerp, which is dedicated to old Flemish art.

He says he was terribly upset and protested when he heard about the restorer's intervention over the phone.

Because even if the collar that was painted on afterwards “looks strange”, the overpainting is itself historical: “The picture as it is now has a long history.

And that has to be respected.«

The portrait was probably created around 1607 to 1608. At that time, Rubens was still in Italy, where he had been promoting his career for years.

He did not see himself primarily as a portraitist, but when he created a portrait, he was seized by his typical ambition and he succeeded in making the sitter seem alive.

Whoever let him paint them knew that he or she would make an unforgettable impression, maybe even boast, and still appear like a real person.

Rubens created his own trend there.

Speaking for Mantua: the ladies had a sense for outrageously expensive fashion

A connection between the depicted woman and the ducal court of Mantua is obvious.

The Flemish artist was under contract with the Gonzagas who ruled there for a longer period of time.

And the ladies at this court had a sense for such elaborate hairstyles and for those outrageously expensive collars as worn by the portrayed woman in the original version of the painting.

In Genoa, as Büttner describes it in the catalogue, the class-conscious women were more reserved, especially when it came to their hairstyle.

A bereavement was probably the reason for redesigning the picture.

Her fun-loving splendor did not befit such a stroke of fate.

But when and where did this dressing take place?

In any case, someone with fine black pigment made the wagon-wheel-sized ruff disappear, as did the chain.

The earrings, which may have consisted of powerful pearls, were replaced by bows, and the decorative stones in the hair were darkened.

The sitter received a new, mannerly collar and her black cloth was placed over it.

Her smile and embellishments on the sleeves remain.

Basically, editing was a precursor to Photoshop.

Could even an employee of Rubens have been the overpainter?

Buttner doesn't know.

He says, however, that the clothes in the first version probably did not come from Rubens himself, but he had his collaborators for that from an early age.

Only the head was from the master, and that remained.

Another detail, which has only just been discovered, is important to him, and that concerns the further development of the work.

A trail leads to the English royal family.

The painting apparently belonged for a time to Charles I, who had ruled the island since 1625 and was a true Rubens fan.

Rubens, soon not only a painter but also a diplomat, traveled to England himself in 1629.

A historical inventory drawn up after 1637 contains an entry that would match the portrait.

The author described a "Mantuan piece" about a lady in a black dress with a shawl.

"Probably painted by Rubens when he was in Italy."

Charles I obviously liked the picture – it disappeared after his execution

The fact that the picture, which was probably already painted over at the time, belonged to the royal collection is an important argument for Büttner against restoring the first version.

The English were less attached to art, with or without mourning veils.

After the execution of the wasteful and unloved king, his exquisite collection was sold.

It probably stayed on the island for a long time, in the 1960s it ended up in a private collection in St. Gallen. Büttner indicates that it has circulated among dealers in recent years.

It was not until the Munich auction that more light fell on the lady.

The somewhat disfiguring act of changing clothes and the lack of research may also have led to the picture being overlooked for centuries and ultimately not being adequately valued.

It was, says Büttner, passed around among dealers like a challenge cup.

It was auctioned off in 2021 for a bargain price of 254,000 euros, a price that the art historian considers “a joke”.

In fact, a year earlier another Rubens portrait of a lady at Christie's fetched nearly £4m and it was an unfinished one.

The lady with the overpainted dress, on the other hand, is almost perfect.

It's not even clear who she was - the first woman at the court of Mantua at the time of its creation was definitely Duchess Eleonoara, née Medici.

But even if many mysteries have not yet been solved, one of the many veils in art history has been lifted a tiny bit.